Rosen vs. Romney and The Reverse Triple Salchow War on Women

I cannot be sussed to write a summary of The Faux Outrage of the Day aka The Dawn of the Obama War on Motherhood. It’s too stupid. Luckily, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs has already done so:

And a screaming went across the right wing sky, as they all realized they could use this statement to distract from the insane right wing war on women’s rights. As if by magic, every right wing blog and every right wing media source began frantically shouting in unison that this proves Democrats are waging a war on motherhood!

Yeah. That’s happening right now. That’s the Big Story of the Day. RosenGate is extremely silly, and watching it unfold on Twitter is somewhat amusing, if you’re able to stand that much cyberstupid.

When the story (such as it is) first broke last night on the Twitters, Hilary Rosen was a Democratic strategist. An hour later, she was an “Obama adviser.” An hour after that, she was “in the Obama Administration.” CNN contributor and Breitbart enthusiast Dana Loesch began drawing connections between Hilary Rosen and Sandra “Why Doesn’t Her Super Jewwy Boyfriend Pay for Her Contraception” Fluke. Apparently Rosen worked with (or at, or near) the PR firm that represents Sandra Fluke. PERFIDY! At the rate the wingnuts are going, by day’s end, Hilary Rosen will be Obama’s Special Ambassador to Ladyholes.

It’s ridiculous.

The Romney campaign is starting to realize that nobody likes their boy, so they’re pushing Ann Romney on stage to bat clean-up, claiming that “she’s struggled” (with multiple sclerosis) and that somehow that struggle translates into her being able to understand the economic woes of the average mother (it doesn’t.)

There are mothers out there who have multiple sclerosis and don’t have health insurance. There are mothers out there who have multiple sclerosis and don’t have access to dressage horses to help cope with the symptoms. There are mothers who don’t have the option to stay at home and raise five children because if they don’t work, their kids won’t eat.

And let’s not forget that just last month, Ann Romney said the following: “I don’t even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing.” Indeed, that is an interesting thing — since Ann Romney is worth 250 fucking million dollars.

Let’s forget politics for a minute, since politics seems to make people lose the capacity for rational thought. Let’s talk about — say — Angelina Jolie. She’s worth at least 250 million dollars (I would guess) and has approximately five children (who can keep track anymore, really.) Now if Angelina Jolie were to stand up and attempt to compare her experience raising her children with the experience of say Jennie Linn McCormack, a single mom of three who was arrested for inducing her own abortion using RU-486, wouldn’t you scoff at her?

Jennie Linn was terrified at bringing yet another life she couldn’t afford into the world because she was already living off child support checks. Jennie Linn did not have easy access to a clinic like, say, Planned Parenthood which could have helped her make difficult decisions about her reproductive health so that she didn’t have to go it alone. Jennie Linn didn’t have the five hundred dollars, nor did she have the hours it would have taken her to make multiple trips to the closest women’s health clinic, a clinic which was hours away. Jennie Linn was charged with a felony simply for making the sorts of choices that Ann Romney’s husband won’t allow Jennie Linn to make.

Is there a sane person in this country that would argue that Angelina Jolie’s experience raising her family is even in the same universe as Jennie Linn McCormack’s?

Of course not.

As I said yesterday, the GOP thinks women are stupid. The GOP thinks that the scores of women voters who are running screaming from Mitt “Planned Parenthood? We’re gonna get rid of that!” Romney are going to run into the open arms of Ann Romney with her dressage horses and her 250 million dollars because of some stupid gaffe by a Democratic strategist and the subsequent fake war on motherhood. It’s not going to happen.

Look — I’m sure Ann is a nice enough person, and I have no doubt that Ann did a great job raising her family. And if I were butt-ass rich, I’d probably have a car elevator like Ann does. But Ann Romney’s experience raising her kids is simply not representative of the average mother in this country. Period. That doesn’t make it any better or worse — it’s just different, and any attempt on the part of the Mitt Romney campaign to sell Ann Romney as in-touch with the struggles of stay-at-home moms falls flat on its face.

About the Author

ABL aka Angry Black Lady aka Imani Gandy is a recovering attorney with a burning love of fire and perfectly-constructed sentences. The “anger” portion of her moniker stems not from her displeasure at the hellscape that American politics has become, but rather is a symptom of the pituitary tumor which has been indefinitely detained in her brain since 2006. When she’s not pointing out that people are wrong on the Internet – or writing for Balloon Juice, The Grio, The Team Uterati Wiki Project, or RH Reality Check -- she likes long sits on the beach. Also, she thinks gravity is a real downer. You can follow her on Twitter at @AngryBlackLady.